


The Most Noble Profession

by rangerhitomi



Category: Pokemon Ranger
Genre: Gen, Pokemon Ranger Week, Pre-Canon, Ranger School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 05:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5035693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kincaid is sent to the Ranger School in order to recruit the best and brightest for Team Dim Sun, he has no idea that he's about to face the most difficult task of his career - managing teenagers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Most Noble Profession

Mr. Kincaid straightened his tie and walked through the large, handsomely carved pine doors that led into the esteemed Ranger School. His footsteps echoed on the highly polished hardwood floors as he walked purposefully toward the staff room in the northeast corner of the large entrance hall. He passed many large windows that allowed the sun to permeate the hall, bringing in a warm, welcoming feel to the entire building.

Of course, Mr. Kincaid did not appreciate the inviting comfort of the school. He did not want to be there at all.

After all of his hard work, moving from the dregs of the Altru mechanics to the team leader of a very secretive, important – might he add, _successful_ – project, braving the dangers of the Chroma Ruins to locate the Shadow Crystal and identify the Darkrai that guarded it – _surely_ he would be rewarded. Instead, he was _punished_! The injustice of his conversation replayed in his mind.

 _“You have done more than I could ever have imagined, Mr. Kincaid. You succeeded where dozens have failed in reaching the Crystal. But you have failed to discover how to completely_ control _, and not just immobilize, the Pokémon the Gigaremo affects.”_

 _“It’s proving harder than anticipated to replicate the effects of the Union’s Stylers without an actual Styler model, let alone_ exceed _the level of control the Styler offers.”_

_“If you had a Styler, or someone familiar with the mechanics of the Styler, would you be able to do it?”_

_“Perhaps. But Stylers are given only to Rangers, and neither they nor the mechanics at the Union would ever sanction this kind of research.”_

_“What about the Ranger School? The new school year begins in a few weeks. If we could recruit a particularly gullible student to develop what he thinks is a way to help Pokémon and humans live together more peacefully…”_

_“Do you have someone in mind?”_

_“There’s a young man in Puel who has developed many computer programs and renewable energy proposals, and he’s only fifteen. He’s been approached by the Union, so he is attending the Ranger School this year for personal studies. As fate would have it, there’s a position open for a teacher at the school.”_

_“Why are you telling me this, sir?”_

_“I want you to take the position and recruit him for Altru.”_

Instead of being honored and promoted, President Hall had forced him into being a teacher for a bunch of the most horrible creatures on the planet. _Teenagers._

He heaved a sigh and knocked on the staffroom door. Right away, the door opened to reveal an older man with wavy silver hair, his bright blue eyes twinkling behind perfectly round glasses.

“Mr. Kincaid?” the man said cheerfully.

Kincaid forced a smile and followed the man inside. “You must be Mr. Splen… spel…” He faltered. What _was_ the man’s name? It was certainly a bad first impression, being unable to remember the principal’s name…

To his surprise, the man laughed jovially. “Splendidocious, but you can call me Lamont. It’s much easier to remember.” He winked at Kincaid’s flabbergasted expression. “I’d have thought you were trying too hard to impress me if you’d remembered it, my friend.” He gestured at a chair sitting in front of a desktop computer. Kincaid sat stiffly.

Lamont settled into the adjourning chair and picked up a folder. “Now, Mr. Kincaid, I have your résumé here, and I… I am quite impressed. You have quite the illustrious career as a geological consultant, then supervisor, for Altru. Many people forget that, although this is a school to train Rangers, we cover a wide variety of the sciences as part of their training. After all,” he added, smiling brightly, “a Pokémon Ranger has to be familiar with the land he is protecting, am I right?”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Kincaid intoned, inclining his head rather forcefully into what he hoped was a thoughtful bow. “That’s why I would like to leave my position at Altru, so I can help Rangers become better protectors of the land.”

Lamont leaned back in his chair as though sinking into a comfortable armchair. He gazed intently at his interviewee and nodded to himself. “Yes, yes, I think this decision is fairly obvious,” he murmured. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Mr. Kincaid, I would like to offer the position to you.”

The decision was so sudden that Kincaid stared at the principal for a solid fifteen seconds before he realized what had just been said. Perhaps his mouth opened slightly as well, for the principal gave an amused chuckle.

“Speechless?”

Kincaid composed himself smoothly. “Ah… a little. I would be honored to take the teaching position at this eminent place of learning.”

Lamont stood up abruptly. “Excellent!” He grabbed a folder crammed with papers from the desktop and handed it to the new appointee. His expression shifted suddenly and his voice became crisp and businesslike. “Here are the files for the new students, as well as a suggested curriculum for your classes. Next Friday, we will have a staff meeting, and the students will arrive for orientation the following Sunday. The Monday after will be the first day of classes.” He sighed contentedly. “The next six months will be wonderful. I have a feeling this class will produce outstanding new Rangers.” Blue eyes twinkled behind the glasses. “Perhaps even… new Top Rangers?”

Kincaid glanced at the packet crammed with papers. He was rather afraid of what he might find within, but resolved to memorize every bit of information within. Anything in these files that might help him with his duty in recruiting promising youth for Altru would be helpful.

Lamont pointed at the folder. “You’ll find the file for a young man from Fiore. He’s transferring in a couple of weeks late, just so you know.”

Kincaid nodded absently. His interest lay in one particular student. “If I may ask, is the file for a student named Isaac in here as well?”

The principal’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve heard of him, then? Yes, of course, he’ll be doing independent study here. We have the largest library in Almia – actually, the largest library in the Wilderness Protectorate.” A satisfied look settled on his face. “Many researchers from as far as Johto come to our school to do research.”

Kincaid wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained. “Of course. I was wondering if I might be able to recruit him to help with some research of my own? About…Pokémon dream energy.”

Lamont stroked his chin and nodded slowly. “Yes, that sounds satisfactory. You’ll have to ask him first, naturally. I doubt he would pass up a chance to work with Altru. He admires the work you do.”

“Naturally.”

Lamont held out his hand. “Thank you for accepting the position, Mr. Kincaid. I know you’ll leave a tremendous impact on these youth when they graduate from this school.”

Kincaid reluctantly shook the principal’s hand. “I certainly hope so, Mr. Lamont.”

* * *

 

Kincaid gazed out the window at the setting sun from his apartment in Puel, then at the coffee table in front of him. In one hand, he held a cup of coffee – extra milk – and in the other, the files of the juveniles he was to be teaching for six months. He had prolonged looking at the files since arriving home earlier in the afternoon, though he wasn’t sure why. He felt as though opening the folder might release some kind of demon that he might never be able to kill. _Teenagers._ The thought of teaching them repulsed him. He looked at the half-empty cup of coffee in his hand and sighed. Perhaps it was the wrong choice of drink for the occasion.

He set the coffee on the table and gingerly opened the folder. A schedule sat on top of the pile – the classes he was to teach were highlighted on it. It seemed he would be teaching classes in levels. For the first two months, he would teach introductory courses in environmental science, geology, geography, and wilderness survival. The next two months would be intermediate versions of the same courses, and the last two months were advanced versions. Each class in each trimester would consist of three days a week in class and two doing practical study outdoors. He grimaced. He had done field work, of course – it was hard to be an effective geologist otherwise – but he had always had sufficient funds to make his outdoor excursions comfortable. Wilderness survival would be a tricky class to teach anyone, let alone teenagers used to comfortable living, sleeping, and electronics.

His eyes traveled over the other required classes. Writing, habitat studies, Pokémon captures, Pokémon physiology, health and first aid, aerobics, swimming, basics of mechanics, leadership studies… these students were going to be worked hard, he noted with satisfaction.

He finally turned to the first student file. To his disappointment, the files were not arranged alphabetically; rather, it seemed they were arranged based on date of admission, from most recent. _This must be the transfer student,_ Kincaid mused, staring at the file. The attached picture showed a rather bored-looking young man. Kincaid clicked his tongue disapprovingly at the trussed up brown hair and apparent poor posture demonstrated by this student. He turned to the student’s entrance exam scores.

_Kellyn, 15, from Ringtown, Fiore has demonstrated below average ability in teamwork skills. He has demonstrated average ability in writing, basic mechanics, geology, and spacial analysis. He has demonstrated superior ability in theoretical and practical capture skills, knowledge of Pokémon habitats and physiology, and physical fitness._

Kincaid didn’t need to look at the part of the file labeled “Field of study” to know the boy wanted to be a Ranger.

He flipped through a few more files, scanning the testing scores for anything out of the ordinary. Few students had more than one “superior” on their files; by the time he reached the last student, he had found only three others with multiple “superiors”: a ditzy looking brunette girl named Kate who rated “below average” in writing but “superior” in basic mechanics, capture skills, and physical fitness; a blonde girl named Rhythmi who rated a “below average” in capture skills but “superior” in spacial analysis, teamwork skills, and basic mechanics; and a boy with reddish-brown hair named Keith, who rated “below average” in spacial analysis and geology, but “superior” in physical fitness, capture skills, and leadership. 

_At last._

Isaac’s file.

The boy had rated not just a “superior” rating in every written test; he had scored _perfects_ on each test. He scored only “average” in physical fitness and practical capture skills, but those did not interest the new teacher.

_Perfects in every written exam… impressive._

The teacher picked up a newspaper article, dated some three months prior, from the coffee table and scanned through it until he came to the page he wanted.

_Local boy stuns Altru with energy efficiency proposal_

_Puel, Almia. Local boy Isaac Mohr, 14, stunned Altru, Inc. this week with a proposal that has scientists three times his age in shock. Altru’s recent oil shortage crisis has resulted in a scramble to find more efficient energy solutions to replace oil as Almia’s primary fuel source. Isaac’s proposal draws on outputs of Pokémon energy through sleep and dream-_

Kincaid scanned the rest of the article before coming to the end.

_-been approached by the Ranger Union to do independent studies, utilizing the Ranger School’s impressive library collection, rivaled in size only by libraries in Sinnoh and Unova. Isaac, who jokes that his IQ and height in centimeters are both 163, eagerly accepted the Union’s invitation to study at one of the most prestigious and demanding schools in the world. He will be attending along with forty prospective Rangers, Operators, and Mechanics._

It was really quite impressive, a teenager with an IQ of 163. With that kind of youthful brilliance… there was no way to fail in perfecting the Gigaremo.

“Now we’ll see how well he can be duped,” Kincaid muttered, setting the paper aside. He reluctantly picked the files back up and began reading through them more carefully. He had work to do before the school year started.


End file.
